"it takes two to tango" meaning in English

See it takes two to tango in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Proverb

Audio: En-au-it takes two to tango.ogg
Etymology: From the song Takes Two to Tango, written and composed in 1952 by Al Hoffman and Dick Manning. Head templates: {{head|en|proverb|head=it takes two to tango}} it takes two to tango
  1. (idiomatic) Some things need the active cooperation of two parties; blame is to be laid on both parties in a conflict. Wikipedia link: it takes two to tango Tags: idiomatic Categories (topical): Two Derived forms: it takes two to tangle Related terms: tango Translations (some things need the active cooperation of two parties): انها رقصَة التانغو تتطلب شخصين (Arabic), ايد لوحدها ماتسقفش [Egyptian-Arabic] (Arabic), 一個巴掌拍不響 (Chinese Mandarin), 一个巴掌拍不响 (yī ge bāzhang pāi bù xiǎng) (Chinese Mandarin), der skal to til tango (Danish), tanssiin tarvitaan aina kaksi (Finnish), kukaan ei riitele yksinään (Finnish), kukaan ei tappele yksinään (note: about fights or conflicts) (Finnish), il faut être deux pour danser le tango [rare] (French), kettőn áll a vásár (Hungarian), 喧嘩両成敗 (kenka ryōseibai) (alt: けんかりょうせいばい) (Japanese), det trengs 2 til tango (Norwegian), do tanga trzeba dwojga (Polish), não se faz nada sozinho (Portuguese), для та́нго нужны́ дво́е (dlja tángo nužný dvóje) (Russian), dos no discuten si uno no quiere (Spanish), det är inte ens fel om två träter (english: regarding conflicts) (Swedish)
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  "head_templates": [
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      "derived": [
        {
          "word": "it takes two to tangle"
        }
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        {
          "text": "I can't do it by myself, and neither can you – it takes two to tango.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "text": "He started it! Well, it takes two to tango.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Some things need the active cooperation of two parties; blame is to be laid on both parties in a conflict."
      ],
      "id": "en-it_takes_two_to_tango-en-proverb-azL09eaW",
      "links": [
        [
          "cooperation",
          "cooperation"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) Some things need the active cooperation of two parties; blame is to be laid on both parties in a conflict."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "tango"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "ar",
          "lang": "Arabic",
          "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
          "word": "انها رقصَة التانغو تتطلب شخصين"
        },
        {
          "code": "arz",
          "lang": "Arabic",
          "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
          "tags": [
            "Egyptian-Arabic"
          ],
          "word": "ايد لوحدها ماتسقفش"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
          "word": "一個巴掌拍不響"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "yī ge bāzhang pāi bù xiǎng",
          "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
          "word": "一个巴掌拍不响"
        },
        {
          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
          "word": "der skal to til tango"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
          "word": "tanssiin tarvitaan aina kaksi"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
          "word": "kukaan ei riitele yksinään"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "note": "about fights or conflicts",
          "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
          "word": "kukaan ei tappele yksinään"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
          "tags": [
            "rare"
          ],
          "word": "il faut être deux pour danser le tango"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
          "word": "kettőn áll a vásár"
        },
        {
          "alt": "けんかりょうせいばい",
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "kenka ryōseibai",
          "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
          "word": "喧嘩両成敗"
        },
        {
          "code": "no",
          "lang": "Norwegian",
          "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
          "word": "det trengs 2 til tango"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
          "word": "do tanga trzeba dwojga"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
          "word": "não se faz nada sozinho"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "dlja tángo nužný dvóje",
          "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
          "word": "для та́нго нужны́ дво́е"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
          "word": "dos no discuten si uno no quiere"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "english": "regarding conflicts",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
          "word": "det är inte ens fel om två träter"
        }
      ],
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        "it takes two to tango"
      ]
    }
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  "word": "it takes two to tango"
}
{
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "it takes two to tangle"
    }
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  "etymology_text": "From the song Takes Two to Tango, written and composed in 1952 by Al Hoffman and Dick Manning.",
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          "text": "I can't do it by myself, and neither can you – it takes two to tango.",
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          "text": "He started it! Well, it takes two to tango.",
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        "(idiomatic) Some things need the active cooperation of two parties; blame is to be laid on both parties in a conflict."
      ],
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    {
      "code": "ar",
      "lang": "Arabic",
      "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
      "word": "انها رقصَة التانغو تتطلب شخصين"
    },
    {
      "code": "arz",
      "lang": "Arabic",
      "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
      "tags": [
        "Egyptian-Arabic"
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      "word": "ايد لوحدها ماتسقفش"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
      "word": "一個巴掌拍不響"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "yī ge bāzhang pāi bù xiǎng",
      "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
      "word": "一个巴掌拍不响"
    },
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
      "word": "der skal to til tango"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
      "word": "tanssiin tarvitaan aina kaksi"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
      "word": "kukaan ei riitele yksinään"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "note": "about fights or conflicts",
      "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
      "word": "kukaan ei tappele yksinään"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
      "tags": [
        "rare"
      ],
      "word": "il faut être deux pour danser le tango"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
      "word": "kettőn áll a vásár"
    },
    {
      "alt": "けんかりょうせいばい",
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "kenka ryōseibai",
      "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
      "word": "喧嘩両成敗"
    },
    {
      "code": "no",
      "lang": "Norwegian",
      "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
      "word": "det trengs 2 til tango"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
      "word": "do tanga trzeba dwojga"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
      "word": "não se faz nada sozinho"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "dlja tángo nužný dvóje",
      "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
      "word": "для та́нго нужны́ дво́е"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
      "word": "dos no discuten si uno no quiere"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "english": "regarding conflicts",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
      "word": "det är inte ens fel om två träter"
    }
  ],
  "word": "it takes two to tango"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-15 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (8a39820 and 4401a4c). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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